Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches SARAH WENDT KATE SEYMOUR FIONA BUCHANAN CHRIS DOLMAN NATALIE GREENLAND RESEARCH REPORT ISSUE 05 | OCTOBER 2019 ANROWS acknowledgement This material was produced with funding from the Australian Government and the Australian state and territory governments. Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) gratefully acknowledges the financial and other support it has received from these governments, without which this work would not have been possible. The findings and views reported in this paper are those of the authors and cannot be attributed to the Australian Government, or any Australian state or territory government. Acknowledgement of Country ANROWS acknowledges the traditional owners of the land across Australia on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders past, present, and future, and we value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, and knowledge. © ANROWS 2019 Published by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety Limited (ANROWS) PO Box Q389, Queen Victoria Building, NSW, 1230 | www.anrows.org.au | Phone +61 2 8374 4000 ABN 67 162 349 171 Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches (Research report) / Sarah Wendt et al. Sydney : ANROWS, 2019 Pages ; 30 cm. (Research report, Issue 05/2019) I. Family violence – Prevention II. Family violence – Intervention III. Family violence – Research -- Australia IV. Narrative therapy I. Wendt, Sarah. II. Seymour, Kate. III. Buchanan, Fiona. IV. Dolman, Chris. V. Greenland, Natalie. ISBN: 978-1-925925-11-1 (print) | 978-1-925925-12-8 (online) Creative Commons Licence Attribution-Non Commercial CC BY-NC This licence lets others distribute, remix and build upon the work, but only if it is for non-commercial purposes and they credit the original creator/s (and any other nominated parties). They do not have to license their Derivative Works on the same terms. Version 3.0 (CC Australia ported licence): View CC BY-NC Australia Licence Deed | View CC BY-NC 3.0 Australia Legal Code Version 4.0 (international licence): View CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence Deed | View CC BY-NC 4.0 Legal Code Please note that there is the potential for minor revisions of this report. Please check the online version at www.anrows.org.au for any amendment. ii Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches PROFESSOR SARAH WENDT Flinders University DR KATE SEYMOUR Flinders University FIONA BUCHANAN University of South Australia CHRIS DOLMAN Emerging Minds and Uniting Communities DR NATALIE GREENLAND University of South Australia and Uniting Communities This report addresses work covered in the ANROWS research project PI.17.12 Engaging men: Invitational-narrative approaches. Please consult the ANROWS website for more information on this project. ANROWS research contributes to the six National Outcomes of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. This research addresses National Plan Outcome 6 – Perpetrators stop their violence and are held to account. Suggested citation: Wendt, S., Seymour, K., Buchanan, F., Dolman, C., & Greenland, N. (2019). Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches (Research report, 05/2019). Sydney, NSW: ANROWS. iii Flinders University Sturt Rd, Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia, 5042 Author acknowledgement The authors gratefully acknowledge the support they have received from Uniting Communities Adelaide. Thank you to the practitioners, men and women who participated. The authors would also like to thank Dr Alison Elder for her creative input during stages of the research project. Acknowledgement of lived experiences of violence ANROWS acknowledges the lives and experiences of the women and children affected by domestic, family and sexual violence who are represented in this report. We recognise the individual stories of courage, hope and resilience that form the basis of ANROWS research. Caution: Some people may find parts of this content confronting or distressing. Recommended support services include: 1800 RESPECT – 1800 737 732 and Lifeline – 13 11 14. iv RESEARCH REPORT | OCTOBER 2019 Contents Definitions and concepts 4 Executive summary 6 Background 6 Methodology 6 Key findings 7 Stage 1: How does invitational narrative practice engage with men? 8 Stage 2: What works for engagement? 8 Implications for practitioners and policy-makers 10 Conclusion 10 Introduction 11 Rationale for the study 12 State of knowledge review 13 Methodology for the State of knowledge review 13 Literature search strategy 13 Key informant conversations strategy 15 Findings of the State of knowledge review 16 Section 1: Engagement 16 Section 2: The invitational narrative approach 23 Section 3: Key principles for skills and engagement 29 Section 4: Hindrances and learnings from South Australia 33 Conclusion 35 Methodology 36 Partnership 36 Aims 37 Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches 1 RESEARCH REPORT | OCTOBER 2019 Research questions 37 Theoretical framework 37 Interviews 37 Recruitment and sample 38 Interview schedules 40 Analysis 41 Ethics and safety 41 Key findings 43 Respectful collaboration and competency focused 43 Ethics 47 Restraining ideas 48 Shame 51 Naming violence 53 Exploring the effects of men’s violence on women and children 56 Responsibility and thinking about change 60 Early stages 61 Making progress and initiating change 63 Sustaining change: Insights and challenges 66 Transformative change 71 Women’s safety 73 Implications of men’s change for women’s lives 74 “Women’s work” 75 Discussion 77 Engaging men who use violence 77 Supporting perpetrator accountability 78 Promoting women’s safety 78 Enabling invitational narrative practice: What works? 79 Conclusion 80 Research reflections 80 Limitations 80 Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches 2 RESEARCH REPORT | OCTOBER 2019 Implications for policy-makers and practitioners 81 References 82 Appendix A: Conversation guide for key informants 88 Appendix B: Information sheets (practitioners, men and women) 89 Appendix C: Consent forms (practitioners, men and women) 93 Appendix D: Interview guide for men 96 Appendix E: Interview guide for practitioners 99 Appendix F: Interview guide for women 101 Appendix G: Narrative analysis protocol 103 Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches 3 RESEARCH REPORT | OCTOBER 2019 Definitions and concepts Domestic violence The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children defines domestic violence as follows: “acts of violence that occur between people who have, or have had, an intimate relationship. While there is no single definition, the central element of domestic violence is an ongoing pattern of behaviour aimed at controlling a partner through fear, for example, by using behaviour which is violent and threatening. In most cases, violent behaviour is part of a range of tactics to exercise power and control over women and their children, and can be both criminal and non-criminal. Domestic violence includes physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse” (Council of Australian Governments, 2011, p. 2). An intimate partner relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves physical, sexual or emotional intimacy. Engagement Engagement is commonly defined as the initial stage/s in a “planned change process” (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2006, p. 138), in which the core focus is on establishing a professional working relationship, or partnership, between worker and client. In this report, however, the term engagement is used more broadly, recognising that engagement can also be understood as an ongoing and collaborative process that extends beyond the first contact. Narrative practice Narrative practice engages with people by exploring the ways in which they make sense of their lives through stories. People’s stories reflect the meanings they attach to lived experiences and these stories, in turn, influence their lives in significant ways. Recognising that people’s own stories exist within the context of the “broader stories of the culture in which we live” (Morgan, 2000), narrative practice seeks also to explore the stories that people believe about themselves and the world (Wever, 2019). The aim of narrative practice is to enable people to “re-author” their stories and, in doing so, enhance their sense of agency and capacity for change. The origins of narrative practice lies in the seminal work of Michael White and David Epston, as outlined in Narrative means to therapeutic ends (White & Epston, 1990). Engaging men who use violence: Invitational narrative approaches 4 RESEARCH REPORT | OCTOBER 2019 Invitational practice Invitational practice originates in the work of Alan Jenkins as outlined in his 1990 book Invitations to responsibility: The therapeutic engagement of men who are violent and abusive. Building upon narrative therapy concepts but focusing specifically on work with adolescents and men who perpetrate violence, Jenkins (1998, p. 164) described his approach as “a model of engagement by invitation”. Reflecting his emphasis on responsibility, Jenkins (1998) argued that practitioners should work with men to “develop practices of self-confrontation, rather than relying on external confrontation” (p. 189), by helping them to “discover their own preferences and capacities for respectful ways of being and relating” (p. 163). Jenkins’ contributions